Silence Cannot Be Obliterated: A Grimdark Tale
by PastelSparkler
Summary: The story of a few pony OCs that awaken to the now broken, war-driven land of Equestria. Can they figure out what happened and how to get to safety?
1. Prologue

Stillness...There was nothing but stillness in the world. Things were just gone and left for dead. Three quarters of the entire population was wiped out by the war. Few survived. After many bombs were dropped, most nuclear, the land had been decimated to nothing. Hills and mountains were flattened, trees were obliterated and dead. Water almost everywhere seemed to be polluted with the blood of ponies or ashes and gunpowder of war.

In the midst of the stillness and silence, awoke a young ponepone. She was a neon green colored pegasus pony with a bright pink mane. She had lighter pink stripes in her mane and tail and orange bands of color on the tips of her feathers. She lifted her head up groggily, slightly wincing at a headache that pounded her head. She opened her eyes and looked around at the stillness around her. She saw trees - or what she assumed were trees - and a lake closeby. Fog surrounded everything and hung over the lake like a thick cloud, threatening to envelope anypony who dare walk to it into a blinding and confusing state.

Looking closer around her, she found dead leaves and twigs. The grass was crisp under her hooves and looked like a greyed down green. It sickened her a bit to see nature in such destruction and things so quiet and still. But in a way, the quiet and stillness seemed...almost peaceful. She quite enjoyed the silence, but it almost seemed unnatural. She shakily got up onto her hooves, the grass rustling a bit with crisp sounds. Those were the only sounds in the silence that she could detect.

Her head began to pound from standing up and the questions and thoughts began to fill her head. She pushed all the thoughts and questions away and began to focus on one question at a time.

'Okay...My name is...My name is...Neon...Yeah, that's right...I'm Neon Wheels...' she thought, struggling to think over the persistent headache. She moved onto the next question, 'Where am I?'

She had no clue where she was. She could tell it was a forest of some sorts, but not any forest she could identify by name or location. Frustrated with the headache and the lack of knowledge about where she was, she decided to think of any other questions that might be answerable.

Then, it hit her, 'What happened?', she asked herself. She thought long and hard about it. All she could get was that there were lots of explosions, gunfire, and the screams of ponies as they attempted to flee the chaos. She sighed and began walking, hoping it would clear her head and she would be able to remember more of what had happened before she blacked out.

Neon walked for what seemed to be an eternity and she began to feel the darkness, loneliness, and silence close in on her. She felt trapped in a small room with all of the fog surrounding her. She prayed the feeling would go away soon as she continued walking...


	2. Chapter 1

As Neon trekked through the thick fog, the headache began to slowly subside. It eventually faded to a dull ache in the back of her mind. She just kept on walking in one direction, not knowing whether or not it was the right direction, but she mentally hoped it would lead to somewhere outside of the forest.

While deep in thought, she wasn't paying attention to where she put her hooves and tripped over the remains of a large, crooked tree root sticking out of the ground. She fell face-first into a bush with thorns in it and unleashed a screamed. Her scream split the silence for only a moment, and things returned back to their original state. Neon felt hot tears stream down the sides of her face after a few moments. She slowly climbed out of the thorn bush and sat down. Her hoof hurt a bit from the impact of hitting the root, but her face felt even worse from the thorn bush.

She slowly ran her hooves over her face, checking for any thorns that may be stuck. She found none, thankfully, but her face stung with scratches and cuts from the thorns. She shook the remains of debris from her mane and continued walking in the direction she had been going in for what seemed like a few hours.

As darkness grew overhead, Neon began to grow tired from this seemingly endless trek through the silent forest. She had almost begun to hallucinate sounds and always heard a dull ringing. She wanted to think her friends were there with her, when in reality, they were all probably long gone. She began to cry again with the thought of the ponies she held closest to her all being dead most likely. And if they weren't dead, she'd never find them.

In fact, she knew the chances of her finding anypony good that would help her was so very low. But finally, she realized something - the forest had ended. She now stood at the edge of the forest she had emerged from. Ahead of her through the now thinner fog, she saw buildings. Abandoned buildings. Most had been torn up or destroyed, but it didn't matter. She had found what might be civilization.

Summoning the last bits of energy she could muster, she sprinted towards the buildings. She reached the closest building and stopped, leaning against one of the building walls and regaining her strength. She looked at another building and saw an orange glow reflect off of the wall. She looked at where the source could be coming from and saw figures sitting around a fire. She couldn't tell who they were, only guessing that they were ponies, covered in what seemed to be rags

They wore shaggy grey rags that covered their backs and the sides of their legs. Extra fabric from each covering their heads like hoods. They looked like they hadn't showered in days, which made sense, as the few sources of water remaining were polluted with Celestia knows what.

She tried to recognize who the ponies were, but couldn't...Until she looked at one of them closer than before. She saw this pony had pale mint blue fur...

It was Frozen Star. Neon suppressed a squeal of happiness and slowly stepped out into the light, "Frozen Star?" she half exclaimed while looking at Frozen.

Frozen turned and looked at Neon, "Neon?"

...The tense air that originally resided suddenly lifted and things felt more calm. The two ponies ran at each other and gave each other a big hug.

 _"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!",_ they both exclaimed in unison, eyes becoming misty at the sight of seeing their friend that they had thought was gone.

The two ponies stopped hugging and joined the other three ponies by the fire. Neon recognized two of those ponies as Frozen's children, Buggy and Finolla. She recognized the third as Buggy's marefriend, Beatrice. The green mare begged the question, ' _Where was Flain?'_

She spoke up a bit, "Where's your dad, Finolla?"

"...Flain...he's..." Frozen began, her voice cracking. Neon nodded, understanding what she meant.

"I'm so sorry...He was a good person..." said Neon, casting her eyes down in sympathy. Finolla sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye. Buggy gave Finolla a reassuring hug.

The ponies sat in silence, remembering their lost friend. The silence seemed to last forever and only the crackling sound of wood being burned kept the silence from becoming like the dead, quietness of the forest. Nopony knew what to say or do. But they each had thoughts of their own. Only one question weighed on each pony's mind...

What would they do now?


	3. Chapter 2

_**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GRAPHIC MATERIAL**_

Neon cleared her throat with an **"AHEM"** that promptly broke the silence. A cool breeze blew by, making each pony shiver in turn. The flames of the fire flickered briefly, casting a dimmer glow before returning back to it's original uninterrupted state.

"Well, since we're all together now, what should we do first?", stated Neon while looking over at Frozen. Frozen thought for a bit, but nothing came to mind. All she could think about was how tired she felt and how relieved she was to see one of her friends still alive.

"I'm not sure, but maybe sleep would be best for us all? The least tired pony should pick up watch first and we'll all take shifts every so often. If any raiders or enemies in general are seen, the pony on watch is to alert the rest of the group.", said Frozen when finally reaching a logical decision. She gained a nod from each pony in the group.

Neon stood up, "I'll take first watch." said Neon as she stretched a bit. Frozen thanked Neon and ushered the others to one of the nearby buildings to shelter in for the night. Neon walked over to the door and stood in front of the door.

Soon, all was quiet except for the crackling of the fire and the soft breathing of her friends as they slept. Neon kept her ears perked, focused on listening for any unusual sounds and looked for any unusual sights. So far, nothing out of the ordinary had arose.

After what seemed like hours, Neon heard a soft rustling sound and looked around for a bit. She saw the grass a few yards away from her rustle briefly. She blamed it on a breeze, but little did she know that it was not a breeze at all.

A minute passed and suddenly she heard a couple clicks and shifts and then a gunshot rang. Before she could process what just happened, she felt a searing pain in her right foreleg. She collapsed instantly and screamed in pain and alarm. More gunshots fired and then all fell silent. During this chaos, Frozen had woken up and was panicking. She quickly dragged Neon into the building and slammed the door shut.

Frozen scrapped together what medical supplies she had and tended to the bullet wound on Neon's leg. Neon quietly cried in pain, "DAMMIT! I DIDN'T SEE THEM COMING!" she scolded herself for not realizing what had happened sooner.

When Frozen was done, she looked outside and saw the cloudy and gloomy sky begin to lighten. She knew that ever since the bombs were dropped, there was never sunshine, it was only clouds and fog. It would only be an hour or two before it would be light enough to begin travelling again. So she kept watch from the window in the building for a bit.

Soon, the 2 hours had passed. All of the ponies were awake and had quickly eaten what they considered their breakfast. They packed their things and began travelling again. Neon had a limp to her walk now and occasionally, her wound would bleed a little bit, slowly making a red stain on the gauze. To Neon, the wound hurt like hell and she nearly clenched her teeth trying to continue walking.

As they walked through the town, the almost tangiable eerie feeling began to settle upon the ponies. It felt like they were being watched. Suddenly, gunfire began to ring out again. All the ponies dropped to the ground and covered their heads. Several minutes passed and the gunfire faded to nothing. Waiting a few more seconds, the ponies got up again and continued walking. They came across a fairly large home and decided to search it for supplies.

As they entered the building, a sudden foul smell hit the ponies, causing each to gag. They continued regardless and first went to the kitchen, where the stench got stronger. Blood was smeared everywhere. They fanned out and began to search when suddenly, Neon gasped and stopped in her tracks.

"F-Frozen...Come h-here...plea-s-se?" said Neon, visibly shaking where she stood in front of the sink. Frozen walked over and looked in the sink and she felt her heart drop.

There in the sink lay the organs of a pony. The drain was clogged with blood and hair. The stench was absolutely revolting and the sight was enough to make anypony sick to their stomach. Neon turned and ran back out to the entrance, where she puked for a minute straight. Frozen hurriedly ushered the others out of the kitchen before they saw what was in the sink. Frozen checked the rest of the kitchen, where she found spare daggers and a pistol accompanied by two boxes of ammo. As for food, there was nothing but the remains of a dismembered pony.

The rest of the house had nothing of use, so the group went on their way. Neon shakily continued on walking with the group. They checked other homes and found a bit of food and supplies. They even got a box of matches from one house.

After the horrible events that day, the ponies were exhausted and ready to just sleep. They slept in an old, abandoned schoolhouse that night. Each pony had nightmares so terrible, they awoke several times in the night with hot tears streaming down their faces. The only thing keeping them sane was the thought of being in a group with their friends. It was them against the cold, hard world, but it didn't matter. They had each other, and that's what kept them going.

And after getting a taste of what lay outside that dead forest, Neon didn't want to know what would happen in the days to come. Just the thought of what could happen scared her. She tried to forget her worries and fall asleep, but sleep doesn't come so easily when you're dreading the dawn of the next day. She tossed and turned for most of the night, but managed to get a little bit of sleep. And as she fell asleep, her last thought was:

' _What next?_ '


	4. Chapter 3

_**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS VERY DETAILED GORE! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**_

Neon awoke and immediately noticed the dull pain throbbing in her wounded leg. There was a slight ringing in her ears that annoyed her just a bit, but she pushed it to the back of her mind and slowly rose to her hooves. The floor creaked under her weight and the musky smell of deterioration filled her nose. She looked around the room and took note of the dust settling in the streams of dim light coming through various nooks and crannies. She saw Frozen standing at one of the windows in the front, keeping a close watch. It would only be an hour until dawn, which meant they could begin traveling again.

She stretched each leg in turn, trying to relieve the stiffness that haunted nearly every muscle in her body. Though her joints disagreed with this, she eventually got up and decided a good walk later would loosen the rest up. She woke the others and they all ate their breakfast. They then packed their bags and headed out.

As they walked, they came across a fairly large camp that looked deserted, but well-kept. It looked to still be used, but nopony was there. The group entered the camp with great caution and all were focused on any unusual sights or sounds. They went through the first two tents out of about six or seven total. They found things like first-aid kits, a variety of guns with ammo, and fresher food. As they went through the tents, they heard muffled screaming and shouting from one of the last tents.

They entered the tent and found 3 ponies tied up. The three ponies were half-starved, scared, and visible markings and lashings over their pelts, presumably made by a whip. They had been captured and held prisoner, beaten and starved, and they were obviously wary of the group.

Frozen took a step forward, "Don't be afraid, we aren't here to hurt you. We came across this camp as we traveled and decided to scavenge it for supplies. I'll set you free." said Frozen gently as she pulled out a dagger she had. Though each of them cowered at the sight of the dagger, she eventually coaxed them into a sense that it was alright. She cut the ponies' bonds away and they quickly thanked the group. The ponies then ran away as fast as they could away from the camp.

The group finished scouring the camp for supplies and Neon found a brown Fallout vest. It was more of a coat or jacket, but had the properties of a vest in a way. She slipped it on and it was a perfect fit. It had a few patches on it and was hardly dirty. They left the camp with no trouble and continued on their journey.

The fog they had grown so used to still lay thick everywhere they turned and it matched the chilliness they felt that day. The fog thinned out a bit and they saw Canterlot Castle - or what was left of it - sitting on the mountain, far in the distance.

"...Do you think we should go to Canterlot?" asked Neon, glancing at Frozen for an answer.

"Well, it would be our next best bet for supplies and safety. I say we look for the train tracks that lead to Canterlot and follow them." replied Frozen, answering Neon's question with a more thoughtful tone.

Neon nodded and they began to scower for train tracks, the ponies engaging in small conversations every so often as they went on to try and lighten the topics that they had come to know. As they trekked across the land, they came across a ditch with a very profound smell wafting from it.

They approached the ditch slowly and cautiously, expecting something dangerous. What they saw was far from dangerous...But it was gruesome. They found a rotting pony laying in the ditch, swarming with thick, large maggots. Her organs lay in a pool of pinks and reds just outside the gaping hole in the pony's stomach. Maggots crawled out of every visible orifice in the pony, including the eye sockets. The pony's eyes had fallen out of their sockets and lay beside the corpse. Maggots ate at the eyeballs greedily while they saw clots of hair surrounding the pony. They assumed her mane and tail had rotted away off of the corpse and was stirred by wind. The sight was truly horrific and sent chills down the spines of everypony in the group.

Buggy and Bea hugged each other and closed their eyes, burying their faces against the others' neck. Neon gagged and turned away, taking a few steps forward to distance herself from the corpse. Finolla ran to Frozen and began crying while hugging one of Frozen's forelegs. Frozen extended one of her faded, almost glass-like wings over Finolla in an attempt to comfort her. The young pony would most likely be scarred for any remainder of her life.

All Frozen could think was, _'Holy shit...What happened to this poor pony?_ '

The group quickly continued on, but continued seeing the bones of ponies who were long gone. Some bones even had visible wounds, such as bullet holes or cracks. The smell of death hung in the air, though not as strong as it was in that ditch. Soon, they came across a run-down and abandoned train station; just what they were looking for. They followed the tracks on the other side of it and there began their journey to the once grand city of Canterlot.

After what seemed like eternity, the train tracks began to go upwards as they ascended the hills that led to Canterlot.

After what seemed like another eternity, they finally reached the top and arrived in Canterlot. They decided to take things slow and first find a building suitable for them to sleep in for the night, as it was only two hours until dusk - or what they considered dusk.

As they walked through the streets of Canterlot, the unnatural silence began to settle in. It was unusual to see Canterlot in this quiet and desolate state. On a normal day, it would be hustling and bustling with ponies, news, gossip, everything you would expect from the capital city of a country. Suddenly, warning gunshots fired by them and a very aggressive, powerful voice commended from a building closeby, " _ **HEY, YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY TERRITORY?** **!**_ " said the powerful voice, startling the group of friends.

Nopony knew what to say. Then, a familiar male pony flew down and landed with a WHISH in front of the ponies, heavy armor clacking from the movement. This pony was known as a friend to everypony in the group. This pony that had appeared was none other than Blaze.


	5. Chapter 4

"Blaze?!" shouted Frozen Star, recognizing the pony that now stood before them. Blaze had presented himself with a strong figure, one of authority, almost threatening. He let the serious stature drop as he realized who was in the group. His friend Frozen Star and her children. He stared at the rest of the group, taking in the sight and details of every pony. They each looked tired - scared, horrified - most likely at the things they had seen while traveling. They wore ragged hoods with capes, each pony's hair was a mess of fringe, and each had a saddlebag strapped over their backs.

Some of them had bloody bandages wrapped around legs, wings, and any other body part thinkable. It was obvious that they had been through Tartarus and back, Celestia knows how many times.

He straightened himself, "Well this is an unexpected encounter, Frozen," he paused, "It's not safe to talk out here, follow me, quickly and quietly!"

He led them away from the area they stood, heading towards his hideout. After a bit of walking, they reached their destination and Blaze hurried them in the broken down building he called home. He slid curtains in front of the window holes and closed the grayed down tattered door. "Go ahead and unpack a bit and get settled in, then we shall talk."

After a bit of adjustment and tidying, the group had gotten fairly settled in for the night. They all sat down together and Blaze listened to the tales they had from their recent adventures. He saw horror and disgust reflect in each of their eyes as they recalled the dead pony they encountered in the ditch, and the kitchen of the cannibal. He shivered as the images conjured themselves in his mind, emphasizing the gruesome bits which caused him to gag.

"But what happened here in Canterlot when the fallout happened?" asked Frozen, looking at Blaze for an answer.

"Well... As you may know, there was an increase in all sorts of weather and geographical events: strong thunderstorms, sometimes with tornadoes. Even earthquakes or thermal vents opening up. Though the cause is unknown - and unrelevent now - I believe it played a part in what happened. Citizens were lost by the hundreds during each of these, as well as the destruction of homes and even parts of the Sun Palace. Then, after a tornado tore right through the palace, both Celestia and Luna went missing. This sent the ponies into disarray: they were in anarchy, and many seemed to have forgot how to treat eachother. They became mean, grumpy - almost similar to wild animals. With the unrest of the citizens came a sort of cival war." Blaze paused, whiping his face with his hoof and sighing. "And with the war, came the bombs. And after that... Only the survivors remained. Everypony was for themselves. But now, it's been quiet, except for the occasional pony passing through or raider, searching for something or another to loot," he says as he furrows his brows in anger at the thought of trespassers.

He shook the thought away, "Now, I'm sure you're all tired, get comfortable for the night, because it's gonna be a long one. I'll take first watch, sleep well everypony.", Blaze instructed. Everypony got up and got comfortable somewhere in the room, laying down and falling asleep after a bit. Blaze grabbed one of his guns and looked out of the window, peeking through the curtain. He watched for a couple hours, though it felt like eternity. He began to grow weary, so he got up and walked over to Neon, nudging her awake.

"Hey, it's your turn for watch." he said to Neon as she got up.

"Okay..." she said, taking the gun from him and going to where he was at watch post originally. He layed down and fell asleep soon after. She sat watch for another couple hours. Then, it began to grow lighter outside, making her assume it was morning. She yawned and looked at the others, deciding to let them sleep for a little longer.

Minutes passed and she eventually woke everyone up. They all took what provisions they had and ate them. They decided to start exploring Canterlot again and then venture across the countryside of Equestria once more. As they began to pack up, Blaze told them that he wouldn't venture with them due to personal reasons. Though Frozen Star seemed a bit sad at the news, she grew to accept it. Blaze wished them luck and bid them farewell. They explored more of Canterlot.

Towards the back end of Canterlot, they found a few homes which they explored. They found extra ammo, canned foods, and a box of matches. This promised them another day of living based on the supplies. Soon after, they began to make their way back to the front of Canterlot, exiting the city from a new perspective, venturing back down the mountain.

By evening, they had reached the bottom to more countryside. They found a nearby cave and decided to call it a night. They made a fire to cook some of the food, which they ate, and then to put the fire out. Frozen took first watch while the others slept.

She just sat and thought most of the time, though still keeping a conscious eye on the landscape. It seemed like days passed, when it was only a few hours. She grew tired and began to doze, but then she heard a sound...

 _Click, click_

She sat up, holding her gun in her magic, now alert. She thought about the sound and realized it was the sound of a gun being prepared to be shot. Then, a gunshot sounded and she felt excruciating pain fill her left foreleg. She screamed, it woke the others. She dropped the gun and fell over onto her side in pain. Neon hurriedly grabbed the gun and shot at something in the distance. Frozen's ears rang, filling her head with the ringing and phasing out any other sounds. She closed her eyes, groaning from the now headache that came. She opened them and saw the blurry figure of Neon leaning over her. She heard Neon's voice, though muffled, calling out to her.

"Fro? Are you okay? Can you hear me?" Neon said.

Frozen tried to speak, but her mind was too jarred with pain to comprehend how to form words. Frozen let her head roll and rest on one side as she slipped out of consciousness.


	6. Chapter 5

Neon sat and watched over Frozen for a couple hours. Finolla was the most worried about Frozen out of everyone else in the group. She paced around the cave anxiously while Neon, Buggy, and Bea all sat in silence, waiting for Frozen to awake. Finolla would occasionally glance at the still figure of Frozen, sometimes wondering if Frozen was alive or not. She always knew deep in her mind that the answer was probably that she was still alive, but that didn't stop the nagging feeling that kept gnawing at the edge of her mind.

Soon, a pained groaning filled the originally silent air space. Everyone turned and stared at Frozen, who was beginning to stir just a bit. As Frozen awoke, the pain in her leg immediately hit her, and the ringing had faded just a bit, but was still very apparent and drowned out nearby noises still. She opened her eyes, being greeted by the original grayed sights she had grown used to after the fallout. She looked around and all she saw was a haze of the colors of each pony, specifically Neon because Neon had naturally bright, apparent colors that made her stand out against the cold, grey landscape. Like a tiny drop of color on a blank canvas, she could compare it to.

She shifted a bit, realizing how thirsty she was, but she couldn't form words at all because of how confused and...exhausted...why exhausted? She had just been unconscious for..well..she didn't know how long, but she could assume quite a long time. Suddenly, she felt something prodding her side. Then, a sensation of something cold press against her cheek. She reached her good foreleg up to it and felt at it. It was a cup. She sat up a bit and took it, then drank whatever it's contents were. She recognized it as water and wondered how Neon could possibly know what Frozen needed. Soon after drinking the water, her vision began to clear and she could actually talk a little bit.

Her first words made Neon nearly die of laughter...

"What the shit?" said Frozen, quite dumbfounded. Neon made a snorting noise.

"Welp, looks like Frozen learned how to speak again. Congratulations on your first words you dipshit." smirked Neon. Frozen flattened her ears in annoyance, tempted to slap Neon silly.

They sat for a couple hours before Neon got up, "Well, we have a few hours till dusk, let's keep walking before our one and only cripple decides it's naptime." said Neon, obviously referring to Frozen as the cripple in the group. Frozen tried to get up quickly to smack the shit out of Neon, but she failed and fell over, making Neon erupt into a fit of laughter. Neon helped Frozen up and Frozen used Neon as her personal crutch. The group packed up and continued walking through the countryside. They came across an old abandoned shack, which they peeked into, only to find another set of canned goods.

"Man, we've been running into a lot of homes with supplies in them...It makes you wonder if ponies still actively have a residence here..." said Frozen. Neon thought about it and realized that if it were true, they'd be killing innocent ponies. She felt bad for a second, but then her 'Survival of the fittest' notion kicked in. She waged war with the two sides in her mind before shaking both thoughts away.

"Damn you, Frozen, for putting that thought in my mind." scolded Neon as she grabbed the supplies and began packing them away. They left the shack and continued walking.

Dusk fell, and they set up camp in the middle of a desert. They didn't like the idea, but it was better than wandering alone in the dark. Neon took first watch. She sat with her gun and tried to do a better job than Frozen at being watchman, and it worked. Neon smirked as she thought about gloating to Frozen in the morning.

Hours passed, no activity occurred that night.

"' _Well no, we're only in the middle of a fucking desert with no water sources. Nopony would survive out here._ ' Neon thought, scolding herself slightly. Soon, it began to grow lighter outside. The thoughts of a new day exploded in Neon's mind, filling it with all the adventures that may await them. Good or bad. Thinking about the possibilities, it caused a very worrying feeling of dread creep into her. The more she thought about it, the more the feeling grew. She thought it'd be best if she just stop thinking about everything that could happen.

After a while, Neon got up and woke the others. They packed up and continued walking. After a couple hours, they found themselves standing at the edge of the forest that seemed eerily familiar to Neon. Neon racked her brain for what made it seem familiar...She took note of what she noticed about it...The lack of noise radiating from the forest, the fog that poured out of the front, the dead trees...Then she remembered.

"This is the forest I woke up in after the fallout." stated Neon, feeling the dread creep back into her. Frozen didn't know why Neon seemed so scared of the forest.

"What's so bad about it?" asked Frozen, staring at Neon, kinda confused.

"It's absolutely dead silent in here. There is NO noise in that forest...It can drive one insane if they spend too long in there." said Neon, beginning to shake in fear.

Frozen slightly understood where Neon was coming from on that, but Frozen also knew it wouldn't be so bad because the whole group was going in this time.

"Come on, we're all a group, you're in the group, Neon. If we just talk about things for a bit, the silence won't be so bad." said Frozen in an attempt to help Neon see that it wouldn't be so bad.

Neon sighed and knew Frozen was somewhat right, "Alright, let's go in." said Neon nervously.

They all walked into the forest, taking caution with every hoofstep they took. Eventually, they came across the lake Neon woke up by. Frozen walked over to the lake and peered into the water. Finolla peered in, too.

"Do you think the water is clean?" Finolla asked, looking at Frozen.

Frozen furrowed her brow in thought.

' _It couldn't hurt to take a sample and examine it.._ ' thought Frozen as she took a clear, unused container and dipped it in the water with her magic, levitating the container. She collected a sample and took it to the side to look at it. She remembered some simple spells that might assist, so she used them and examined the water.

"Well, it's not exactly 100% filtered, but it's drinkable." stated Frozen.

They collected a lot of water and each took turns dumping the water over each other, as sort of a makeshift shower to wash what dirt they could off of them. Then they sat by the fire they started to keep warm and dry off. Soon after, they cooked a small meal out of some of the food that they had.

"It'd be nice if we could find some materials to use for more proper, protective clothing..Or if we're lucky, we can just find some clothing already made.." said Frozen, thinking about the idea of thicker clothing. Neon sighed, agreeing with Frozen, which earned more mutters from the other three ponies in the group.

They all grew weary and Neon took watch again, still doing a better job than Frozen. Later, she switched the last couple hours off to Frozen. As Neon layed down and began to drift off to sleep, the last thought in her mind was, ' _How much longer will we stay alive?_ '


End file.
